User blog:Reaper with no name/Why Didn't Otachi Fly Earlier?
Today, we'll consider a plot-based question. Shockingly enough, it is exactly the one stated in the title. So, why didn't Otachi use her wings earlier? She could have easily flown past or away from any Jaegers she wanted to. The answer to that is related to the explanation as to why Otachi and Leatherback came to Hong Kong in the first place. Think about it. Of all the cities the two could have attacked, they chose the only place on Earth that still had Jaegers. Why? Because that was their goal. The entire purpose of the Kaiju was to test and weaken Earth's defenses. At that point in the game, the Jaegers were Earth's primary defense (or at least the only defense worth considering, anyway). So, the two went to Hong Kong. Everything else (including the city and Newt) were secondary objectives at best. The Jaegers were the main target, and only when those were defeated did Otachi go to the city (and even then, Leatherback stayed behind to make sure Striker Eureka was truly nonfunctional). So, since Otachi is one of the attackers here, using flight to escape Jaegers doesn't make sense. But why didn't she use it to stay out of the Jaegers' reach? Well, there's multiple explanations that could work. First of all, we have no idea how long Otachi can stay up in the air for. Birds can't fly forever, and it's highly unlikely that Otachi can, either (there wouldn't be much point in her having legs if she never needed them for anything, now would there?). So, from that viewpoint, saving one's energy for when it is actually needed makes perfect sense. Furthermore, based on how the fight with Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha went, it seems likely that the entire scenario was designed as a trap for Striker Eureka. Notice how Leatherback (despite being the tougher of the two) stayed hidden while Otachi did the majority of the work. Given that Kaiju are clearly capable of strategy, this seems like a poor plan, unless it was designed to draw in Striker Eureka to ensure it would be affected by Leatherback's EMP. So, Otachi had to remain on the ground during that fight to divert attention from Leatherback. In effect, the Kaiju played tank and spank with the Jaegers. Otachi didn't have the EMP, so she had to act as the tank (even though she normally wouldn't be the Kaiju for the job). Yet another factor to consider is that flight is generally only useful in combat if one has a way of attacking the target while using flight to stay outside of its reach. Otachi does have the ability to spit acid, but it's unlikely she can do so forever. Furthermore, the range and accuracy on such an attack is almost certainly inferior to that of plasma cannons or missiles. And even if a Jaeger runs out of ranged weapons (or lacks any to begin with), they can always throw cars or storage containers. Also, wings tend to be relatively fragile structures, with even the most minor of injuries modifying the owner's flight characteristics or grounding them entirely (which explains why Otachi kept them folded up until the big reveal). Throw in the potential for a fall (as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall), and Otachi choosing to play a ranged game suddenly doesn't seem like a wise strategy (especially when the tail and acid-spitting are so much more effective up close). Indeed, it might even be possible for conventional weapons to ground a flying Otachi (whether they can do significant damage to Otachi or not), simply because flying is hard to do, and a slight miscalculation (or in this case, impact) could result in a death spiral. So, with all that out of the way, when could Otachi's flight become useful in a fight? Well, if every other offensive option has been exhausted or removed, a fall from way up high would be just as bad for a Jaeger as it would be for a Kaiju, even if carrying them up there is a risky prospect. Wait, isn't that exactly what happened in the movie? Category:Blog posts